The Borderlands
The Borderlands, also known as The Wastelands or Keizaal '''in the Wastelandic tongue, 'are the lands that separate The Stormlands from the rest of the Seven Kingdoms. They are ruled by House Blackgard, a powerful Great House. Nobody knows how the Borderlands came to be, but some believe they were created by the Children of the Forest to prevent the First Men from heading north. Climate ] The wastelands of the Borderlands are by far the largest in all of Westeros, making it a rather unique biome. It is the only place inhabited by a species of large felines, known as "Wasteland Cats". The Borderlands has a dry, almost uninhabitable climate. The poisonous plant summer ivy grows only in the Borderlands. Geography The northern end of the Borderlands is a strategic choke point controlled by the formidable city of BlackgardBlackgard. The lands surrounding Blackgard are the only place where water is available as a natural resource. Plant life is also present, which is quite unique in the wasteland. The only way to enter the Borderlands without having to climb the mountains is to go through a large road that leads straight to Blackgard. Blackgard's position completely dominates the path of this only route, making any attempt to invade the Stormlands futile. History Background The geography and climate of the Borderlands are extremely unique. They are located between The Stormlands, The Reach and The Crownlands. However, the Borderlands do not share the same climate with any of these regions. It is widely believed that the Children of the Forest were responsible for the creation of the Borderlands, as they were believed to have created The Neck and The Stepstones as well. The legendary First Men warrior, Argon the BlackArgon Blackgard (the Black) is thought to be the very first person born in the Borderlands. Because of this, members of his bloodline are official Borderlands natives. Argon was King Durran's distant relative and a loyal bannerman to his house, House Durrandon. Durran gave Argon complete control over the Borderlands. The Borderlands present a formidable tactical obstacle to anyone planning to invade the Stormlands and was instrumental in holding off the Andals during their invasion of Westeros six thousand years ago. However, it was not effective against airborne dragons, leading to Aegon the Conqueror succeeding in invading the Stormlands. Even though Aegon survived the Borderlands, most of his footmen soldiers did not. Thousands of Aegon's soldiers died of thirst, hunger, or were killed by the wasteland cats. Although the Borderlands started as a sub-region of the Kingdom of the Stormlands, Aegon was impressed with House Blackgard's defiance to him.The Great Pass Instead of destroying and replacing them as he did with the other defiant houses, he elevated the Blackgards to a Great House, giving them full control of the Borderlands as an independent region. The Blackgards remained loyal to the Baratheons, but no longer as vassals. Culture After Aegon was crowned King he ordered House Blackgard to open their gates for the Andals, granting them free passage into the Stormlands for the first time since their invasion 6,000 years ago. Now, the Andals are the most common culture in the Stormlands. In the Borderlands however, a branch of the First Men are still the majority in the Wastes. They are called Bordermen. In the books In the ''A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the Borderlands was originally a much more pleasant location, but during the war between the Children of the Forest and the First Men it became a point of no retreat for the Children. When their formidable fortress of Blackgard looked like it might fall, the Children called upon the same sorcery they had used to shatter the Arm of Dorne centuries earlier to destroy the Borderlands and split The Stormlands from the rest of Westeros. The sorcery was not effective and they merely dried out the Borderlands from coast to coast, creating a complete wasteland with only a few small peninsulas. See also * The Neck on the official Game of Thrones Wiki References Category:SharkyBytesz Category:Geography Category:Regions Category:Locations Category:House Blackgard Category:Bordermen Category:Westeros